The Red Badge of Courage is a classic American war novel by Stephen Crane. First published in 1895, it tells the story of a young soldier named Henry Fleming who experiences the horrors of the American Civil War. The novel is notable for its realism and its psychological insights into the mind of a soldier in combat. Fleming is a young man who enlists in the Union Army with romantic notions of war. However, he soon learns that war is a brutal and terrifying experience. He is forced to confront his own fears and weaknesses, and he ultimately comes to a greater understanding of himself and the world around him.